Toronto Maple Leafs Announce 2019 Prospect Tournament Roster

Believe it or not, we are roughly ten days away from a real hockey game featuring the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Buckle up, folks. Hockey is almost back!

In years past, the Maple Leafs typically participated in a locally-hosted rookie tournament featuring only the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators. But the team is opting to change things up in 2019, hitting the road to take part in the Traverse City Prospect Tournament.

Truly, this is exciting stuff.

Held in Traverse City, Michigan (obviously), this year’s tournament will feature prospects from eight different teams: the St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, and New York Rangers. It’s a nice change of pace for the Leafs organization. In branching out from their immediate divisional rivals, management will now get to see how their future pipeline stacks up against those they generally wouldn’t get the chance to.

Nevertheless, one big question remains: who will be attending the festivities from Toronto’s side? Well, I’m glad you asked.

This afternoon, the Maple Leafs announced their official tournament roster. The team will be comprised of 18 forwards, 11 defensemen, and three goaltenders.

The full details can be found down below.

Frankly, there aren’t many surprises to unpack here.

Two members of Toronto’s most recent draft class, Nick Robertson and Mikhail Abramov, are set to suit up when things kick off on September 6th, while the other remaining 2019 picks are either already committed to their European clubs or seemingly not yet worthy of an extended look.

So, things are pretty standard on that front. It’s the prospects from the drafts of yesteryear, though, that really piques one’s interest.

Egor Korshkov, for example, will be taking part in his first tournament since joining the Maple Leafs organization back in 2016, hoping to improve his internal standing after spending the past two years in Russia. Despite being one of the oldest prospects in attendance, this is a very important showcase for the 22-year-old Korshkov. While undoubtedly possessing the physical tools to translate over to North American ice, the clock is ticking on Korshkov’s NHL viability. And after a relatively underwhelming playoff with the Marlies in 2019, there may not be a ton of time left.

Other interesting names for this year include everyone’s favourite younger brother, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev, whose decent preseason performance in 2018 earned him an ELC. SDA will be joined by fellow 2018 draftees in Mac Hollowell (also inked to an ELC), Filip Kral, and Riley Stotts. The latter two, obviously, have much to prove.

Recently signed European free agent, Teemu Kivihalme, will also be taking part.

Where we hit uncharted waters is in the realm of free-agent invitees. The Maple Leafs invited nine free agents to participate in the tournament with them this year, a list which includes the likes of Vladimir Alistrov, Joe Carroll, James Hamblin, Sean Larochelle, Josh Nelson, Marc-Antoine Pepin, Carter Robertson, Xavier Simoneau and Nathan Staios.

A few of those names may sound familiar. In fact, Caroll, Hamblin, Larochelle, Pepin, Simmoneau and Staios all attended Toronto’s development camp back in June, and seemingly showed enough over that initial weekend to now warrant an extended look in real game action.

Obviously, the expectations surrounding these undrafted prospects should be severely muted. These guys are nothing but potential fliers meant to fill what is essentially a pre-pre season roster. But the Maple Leafs do not go about their business with no purpose, either. These nine individuals were invited for a reason, and there is a real chance that a strong performance from any of them could lead to an AHL or ECHL deal.

And truly, in the unpredictability of professional hockey, all anyone really needs is a shot.

The tournament kicks off on September 6th against the St. Louis Blues.